1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a center console airblower for an automobile, and more particularly to having dual wheels to assist air movement from the front passenger compartment to the rear passenger compartment in a vehicle. More specifically, two centrifugal fan wheels are attached to a single motor within a similar housing, air enters from an inlet duct, passes over the wheels and is moved into the outlets, which direct the air to the outlet ducts.
2. Description of Related Art
There exists an enormous waste of economy and energy when viewing the state of the current art concerning blower units for an automobile. The package form of centrifugal fan units currently on the market and that of the prior art is large when compared to the relative installation space in which the devices are required to be installed.
In addition, the airflow in the prior art suffers from several drawbacks. Airflow is hampered and often slow between regions. High pressure drops are associated with the output air in the various regions of the automobile, often the front region of the automobile experiences a relatively high pressure output verses that of the back region. The overall efficiency of the present airblower units is comparatively low. All these drawbacks lead to poor air distribution within an automobile.
In order to effectively provide air to the various compartments of an automobile, blower motors are required to operate at high revolutions per minute (RPMs). This increase in RPMs causes an increase in noise level. Thus, manufacturers have been unable to overcome the aforementioned shortcomings without sacrificing an increase in noise level and loss in overall efficiency.
It is highly desirable to provide a blower design that decreases the noise generated during use, increases the overall efficiency, eliminates both pressure drops and poor air distribution. Ideally, the new design would utilize the current motor employed while still achieving the desired results.
The present invention is directed to a dual wheel blower system for an automobile. The system includes a pair of centrifugal fan wheels driven by a single motor. Air is drawn from an inlet duct, passes over the motor and through the centrifugal fan wheels, which directs the air toward the outlet ducts. The overall package size is minimized by having two outlets fed by separate outlet ducts to eliminate the need for a large outlet.
It is a further advantage to provide an airblower unit for a heating and ventilating system of a motor vehicle, comprising a motor having an axle extending from the motor, a pair of centrifugal fan wheels, driven by the axle and a casing for housing the motor and the centrifugal fan wheels. The casing comprises at least two casing halves substantially symmetrical with respect to one another. Preferably, the casing halves have an inlet half opening disposed along a back surface of the casing halves, such that an outlet opening is disposed along a front surface thereof.
Another advantage of the present invention is providing casing halves that have an inlet opening disposed along a side surface of the casing halves and an outlet opening disposed along a front surface of the casing halves.
It is yet another advantage of the present invention to provide the casing halves where the inlet ducts are located on both a backside and the side surfaces.
These advantages and other novel features of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.